The Bridge Between Here and Beyond
by P.L.S
Summary: Harry Potter has been chained body and soul to his master for ten years. For him it has been a journey through a dark tunnel and now someone has opened up the other end and he can see the light. But that is no promise that he's going to get free. Now PG
1. Waking Up

We left Nightwing as he was giving up and giving in to whomever was the stronger; Slade, the mage sorcerer who had pulled Harry Potter into the world where he became Richard Dick' Grayson, or Mait' Carrefour, the Petro loa who is the patron of magicians and night. Either way he'd be enslaved to a controlling, manipulative, and all around jerk who would freeze his growth, use him as a battery or an executioner, and could even turn him into a mindless robot. I know, I'm cruel and vile.  
  
Should I tell you who won him? Or should I pull one of my evil things where I just tell the story and let you figure it out?  
  
Yes, well...  
  
Title: The Bridge Between Here and Beyond.  
  
Author: P.L.S.  
  
Rating: Mild to Medium Salsa  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Harry Potter, Teen Titans, or any of the DC Comics canon.  
  
Summery: Harry Potter has been chained body and soul to his master for ten years. For him it has been a journey through a dark tunnel and now someone has opened up the other end and he can see the light. But that is no promise that he's going to get free.  
  
=  
  
(End Chapter One- Waking Up)  
  
=  
  
He woke up in the same dark chamber as he always did. The bed was sinfully soft, the black sheets were silk, the coverlet was just light enough but warm, the many pillows were down filled and comforting. Everything in the chamber was luxurious and sensually overwhelming. Every time he awoke in the room he was healed, still slightly suggestible due to whatever had been done, and divested of all garments. The room was sort of a no clothing zone, the gilded cage where he had to await his master.  
  
No one but his master was allowed to even speak with him let alone touch him. He was cut off from all but his master or those who would soon die. Emotions and morals were things of the past, after all when could he ever use those. Memories were things that he had heard of. His life began in this room, it would end at his master's whim, there was nothing else.  
  
He sat up, the room was made of dark grays and browns, long drapes that covered every bit of the walls. There were no doors, he could only get in and out by his master's power. It was how his life was set up, he'd wake up, slightly disorientated, waiting for God knows how long, seeing his master's face, getting his orders embedded into him through the bond he had with his master, then being left where his master wanted him, doing as he was ordered no matter the cost, then waking up again in the room. It never ended, the looks that were on their faces as he came for them, shrouded in shadows, robed in blackness. The called him many names; Death, Grim Reaper, Azreal, Angel of Death, Demon, Devil, Lucifer, Satan. He was their last sight, the final horror that gave them the mercy of death even if he was sent to bring them before his master.  
  
He was pale, his eyes the same gemlike green that captivated hundreds before their deaths, his hair a curtain of blackness that draped to the middle of his back. The only imperfection on his person was the slight roughness of an ancient scar on his brow, but that was only by touch. He knew he was made to be this way, a lean picture of grace before his victims' screams for pity and mercy. It was a cruel thing that he hated with all his heart, that he was to look the way he did. He wanted imperfections, he wanted his reflection to mirror his actions.  
  
He calmed down and took deep breaths. It never helped to get worked up over the fate that was given to him. No one could care less that he was unhappy, at least he wasn't the one who suffered for hours because his master was in that kind of mood.  
  
I see you are awake. came his master's voice. He looked up to see the familiar form in the ivory and copper robes of the Head Sorcerer of the Council of Chaos and one of three World Controllers. The top part of his face was hidden within the hood of the topmost copper robe with the same mocking smile greeting him.  
  
Yes, master. came his voice, meek under the hidden stare. He ducked his head and got off the bed as was expected.  
  
as soon as that word was uttered the power started infusing itself within him, giving him the information needed for his newest quest, the face of his next victim, the task ordered, the punishment if he dared to think about failure. It was a deep seated hate that bubbled up now, just as it always did. There was just something fundamentally wrong with what his master was able to do to him. His master was always amused by this and he suspected that his master only did it to get the reaction.  
  
I understand, master. he whispered. He was to tell a man to get his son ready for the sacrifice, then return after five sunsets and execute both father and son along with all the household. The holdings were to burn and the gold was to be forgotten. The name of the family was to vanish into history and all were to fear what had happened to them. It was something that was uncommon for his master to order, but it wasn't something one forgot how to do.  
  
His master touched his lowered head and he was instantly robed in many layers of dark material and in his hands rested the same silver staff that he always used. His face was masked in silver and copper that only kept his eyes in the view of the rest of the world. Even his hands were hidden in black material. Shade, you will get your next task as soon as this is finished. came his master's voice as he thought over the significance of his clothes. He felt the hand on his head again and was now in a dark forest and his master was gone.  
  
He lifted his eyes to look at the canopy and in between the branches he could see bright diamonds of starlight twinkling. Shade let out a breath, and then smelled the air. It was crisp, clean, and it touched something inside of him, some long forgotten instinct. A word that he thought he would never use came to mind; home. He was home and he was worried.  
  
A twig snapped behind him. He twisted around to see a large serpent with an older man next to it. His staff changed into the scythe and he was in a battle stance before he could think. The man had a wand out and was also ready to fight in his fashion, the snake was hanging back hissing out Master, you are back!  
  
Who do you call Master', serpent? asked Shade, hissing as the snake was hissing. The man looked gob smacked and the snake reared back as if it had been hit.  
  
Don't you remember me? Your Peter. asked the snake now named Peter. Shade scowled under his mask.  
  
No, I have no memories beyond my master and the tasks he gives me. Shade hissed, I could not be your master. I am only my master's slave. The snake passed the man who was looking very confused. It wrapped around Shade and gave him what was the snake's version of a hug. As he did something snapped into place, a link that he and the serpent had before he had been his master's. It was something he had never even contemplated, but the bond was proof that he had lived a life before his master and the dark room. It broke him in a way that he thought was long dead. Peter had grown up without him.  
  
Shade was actually crying for the first time that he could remember, sobbing for all that he had lost when he had become the slave of his master, crying because he had to kill in this world that he knew in his heart was home. Peter just squeezed him tighter and hissed comforting words as Shade let out all the sadness, frustration, and anger from all the time that he had been Shade. He felt Peter ask for entry into his mind, seek out his memories and try to soothe him. Peter was trying to pull up good memories, but he couldn't find any in Shade's mind. In the end Peter eased some part of his mind to lull him into a warm sleep. It was the best the snake could do with so little to work with.  
  
=  
  
Shade awoke in a bright room with white paneled walls and big open windows covered by sheer drapes that billowed about in the light wind that came in. The bed was not as big as the bed in the dark room, but it was just as soft and comfort filled. Everything in the room was light and created a feeling of hope that Shade had never felt before. His dark robes were hanging in an open wardrobe filled with multicolored robes and other garments, they were the only spot darkness in the light.  
  
He sat up and saw that sitting next to him was a silver-blond man with a smile that he knew was just for him.  
  
Hello, old friend. By what name do you go by today? asked the man in a cultured voice tinted by laughter. Shade couldn't help but want to know what his life was like before, if he was indeed friends with this man.  
  
I am called Shade. Has Peter told you of what he saw of my mind? asked Shade and the man sighed.  
  
Bryan, sorry, Shade, you know that only you can speak with that basilisk. Just because I and Severus spend time with you and Pete doesn't mean we'll ever be parselmouths like you are. Shade closed his eyes trying to understand the familiarity, the tone of the man's voice. Was the breed of snake that Peter was called Basilisk? What was a parselmouth? Who was Severus? Who was the young man? Then the implanted information for the mission came, the young man was the son he was sent to murder.  
  
A warm hand touched his shoulder, Shade? Are you okay?  
  
I don't know. whispered Shade as he felt tears come again. He felt human hands and arms slipping around him to gather his rather small frame to the warm body. It was a sensation that brought forth so many feelings of recollection, but no memories of ever being held to another.  
  
What did that monster do to you, what did he do to you? whispered the calm voice as Shade dissolved into another bout of sobbing.  
  
I don't even remember who you are or how you can stand to touch me. Shade finally got out and the arms tightened around him.  
  
Severus told me that you didn't even recognize him, but I had assumed it was because of his age. murmured the blond and Shade found himself hugging the body close to him, unwilling to give up the only nonviolent human contact he had in what had to be years, Oh, Harry who did this to you?  
  
Shade wanted to answer, but that would awaken a punishment, the pain curse that would continue until his master came to realize him. It was the more common of the punishments, but one that had conditioned him into the perfect slave he was. Shade touched his finger to the man's right temple and willed his thoughts to him, wishing that he could make his thoughts jump from his head to the blond's head. He felt a tingle of warm welcoming power, the same he felt from his staff, and the blond now wore a look of comprehension. Then it turned to horror, then rage.  
  
I'll kill him. uttered the man after a minute, fire was burning in the tear filled gray eyes and the voice was now very angry in it's quietness. The arms that had loosened now squeezed him like a vice, Oh, Harry, he will be begging for death after I'm finished with him.  
  
I was sent to kill you and all who hold your family name then destroy all your family owns. If I don't... he trailed off, the man knew.  
  
I'll find a way to break his hold on you, Harry. If I can't Severus will. We've both missed you, all of the Blacks will want to see you as well.  
  
Was this really my home before? asked Shade in a quiet voice. The man nodded.  
  
Yes, this world and another where you were known as Richard Grayson or Nightwing. Peter was stuck there for five years after you were taken, he had to get enough power and skill to come back to us. He's now something of a cosmic serpent and a credit to you. He is your familiar after all. Here you were born as Harry Potter and known as Bryan Sunseeker, my best friend and cofounder of M&S Unlimited. I am Draco Malfoy, wizard and the best friend you have from both worlds that you call home. Draco said the last part with a hint of amusement and Shade couldn't help but smile.  
  
You are very arrogant, you know. said Shade and Draco grinned.  
  
I'm a Malfoy, I'm allowed. he said and both started to laugh and cry as they held onto each other, not wanting to lose the contact and shared emotions. It continued as Peter slithered in and the now fifteen foot long snake wrapped itself around them and was seamlessly incorporated into the hugging.  
  
=  
  
(End Chapter One- Waking Up)


	2. The Theory Of Relativeity

Title: The Bridge Between Here and Beyond.  
  
Author: P.L.S.  
  
Rating: Mild to Medium Salsa  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Harry Potter, Teen Titans, or any of the DC Comics canon.  
  
Summery: Harry Potter has been chained body and soul to his master for ten years. For him it has been a journey through a dark tunnel and now someone has opened up the other end and he can see the light. But that is no promise that he's going to get free.  
  
=  
  
(Chapter Two-The Theory of Relative-ity)  
  
=  
  
Emily Winner knew she was the most over looked of the scientists who worked with the alien technology in Starr Labs, she also knew that it made it easier to work on her pet project. Emily was the wife of a certain man who ran about in red spandex and had a very nice butt that was just for her now. Yes, he husband was none other than The Flash and she was very happy to keep that a secret between her, her mother, the core members of the Justice League who all treated her as if she was one of them, and the speed demon who was very slow and loving in the sack.  
  
The blond tossed her hair up in a ponytail as she looked over the print out of the simulation she had ran that morning with the new data that Superman had forwarded onto her. Her pet project was based off of two things that made her wonder some days if she was just dreaming after eating a funky whelk. Ten years ago, just as she and Flash were starting their internet based relationship, a member of the JL and founder of the Titans, Nightwing, vanished and with him went the secrets of magic travel between realities. His serpent, Peter (which struck Emily as a very odd name for a huge ultra poisonous snake with a literal death glare), vanished five years later back to the reality where Nightwing and Peter were born. Since then Emily had been toying with the teleportation technology that the JL had in storage because no one could understand how to use it, the time travel machine that the Titans had in storage because it was a very dangerous bit of machinery that had almost killed Starfire, and several other bits of alien machinery and physics that the JL was now actively collecting just for her to use to figure out how to get to Nightwing.  
  
The inner six of the Titans missed their brother in arms and the Justice League were all longing too see the one that seemed like the genius little brother to them. Well, Batman saw him as his oldest son and Superman considered the missing hero a nephew or godson. It hurt her to see them all so subdued without the missing member, but at least they never stopped living.  
  
Aqualad and Raven, the crown prince of the underwater city of Atlantis and his consort as well as Titans, had five kids and were thinking about having another. Starfire and Cyborg were the proud parents of fraternal twins, Rocketfire and Cannonfire, who were now terrorizing the kindergarten teachers in Jump City. Terra and Beast were like the mother and father of a whole slew of teens who came to Titan Tower School to learn to use whatever gifts they had.  
  
Batman and Catwoman were the adoptive parents of Drake, the new Robin, and Catwoman was currently refusing to carry a child ever. It was rather common to be able to tell if the dark clad couple were on the space station because of Batman's loud reasoning (aka begging). Supergirl and her husband Speedy were currently jumping through legal hoops to adopt a seven year old child who had been the ward of the state since birth. The kid had crossed her path in Metropolis and she was now very determined to become little Raymond String's mommy. Speedy would do anything in the world for his wife but slowly the kid was starting to grow on him as well.  
  
Kids and weddings were now as common as crime stopping for the superheroes of Earth, which in some weird way made everyone feel more at ease, knowing that the folks who saved the world did it not only because it was the right thing to do, but also because of their kids futures. Emily just thought it made it all the easier to pressure Flash into marriage, but she really wasn't up to having a rugrat. Thankfully, Flash wasn't either.  
  
Between them, Hawk Girl, Superman, and Green Lantern, they were working day in, day out on the bridge between here and Nightwing's home reality. All the Lanterns were magic users, conjurers and enchanters to be exact, and as of now the most promising things had come from the Lantern's library or their acquired objects of power. Emily was pouring over a text on powered rune enchantments between trying to place the reactions from the simulator.  
  
It seemed to be the best read out they had seen in months, almost fitting the high standards that Emily was setting for it. But the power needed to drive the machine would need to be magical in nature and very powerful. Unless there was some way to merge the power that Green Lantern had said he would provide and some electrical energy, the project would fail. But so far every test had shown that electricity and magic were in compatible and could be dangerous if mixed.  
  
Her research had dug up a text on the subject by a wizard from some other world, it clearly stated only a warlock's magic could blend magical energy with electrical energy. It was something about artificial power and biological power and that since the warlocks were essentially artificial beings made with pure biological power from the sorcerers they were a bridge between the two. Lanterns were purely biological even if they were rare, there was a very good chance that any of Green Lantern's magic would react in a very deadly way to electricity.  
  
The fact that warlocks were a bridge between natural and artificial was added onto by the fact that warlocks were created to want to please others and grant their masters' every wish and the way that warlocks were never limited to one dimension or reality like all magic users less powerful than the mage sorcerers who used their enslaved as not just genies but as advtars as well. The bonded warlock could be controlled from any distance by the bond their master would create. This bond could allow the sorcerer to possess the warlock and channel power into and out of the slave. Because of this many sorcerers were thought to be gods or goddesses and would often use spells to glean power off of worshipers.  
  
When she had shared this information with Flash he had gotten very pale and very worried. He told her then that Nightwing was a warlock and a rather powerful one who had master a couple other forms of magic, he also told her that Nightwing's nemesis was a mage sorcerer, a very devious and obsessed sorcerer who had been after Nightwing since he was four years old. That was a year ago, and now she fully understood the dread that the others had felt when Flash had passed on the facts about sorcerers and warlocks.  
  
Just a month ago a sorcerer had popped on to the planet for a pit stop on his vacation, she had also seen his warlock, a pure robot of a person. She and Flash had gone to question him on dimensional travel and Green Lantern and Superman showed up as well. Once Nightwing's birth name came up the alien had a look of fear.  
  
He told them to lay off, Slade was the highest of the sorcerers and the most powerful by far. His warlock was known as an angel of death or a grim reaper for anyone who dared cross the High Sorcerer. He was as powerful as his master but very well controlled and conditioned. The words, That beautiful monster's life revolves around Slade, haunted her. It was the smirk, the suggestive voice, and that wistful look of a dirty old man which had her fearing for Nightwing, someone who, while she had never met him, had her caring about his fate.  
  
If everything was as she feared... well, it gave her more drive than ever before to finish the Gateway Mirror.  
  
=  
  
The Earth's Lantern was many things in his life, a student, a amateur writer, a shoe salesman, a fry cook, a comic book artist, a defender of Earth and of whomever needed him, an apprenticed conjurer to a senile old man, a conjurer and enchanter who sat on the Galactic Lantern Congress as the active head of his section of the Milky Way. Two things he had no experience in were being a researcher and a scientist. He had never been good at reports and such in high school or in art school, he was absolutely terrible at math in every form but geometry, and now he was wearing those two hats to save his old friend and adopted little brother who had always amazed him with his intelligence and skill at getting the many technophobic heroes to use advanced computers with ease.  
  
Nightwing just had a way of bringing lofty ideas down to earth in bite-sized nuggets of information and facts. He also could make the most intellectual snobs feel dumber than the slugs that he had seen Nightwing chop up and use in a potion. Right now, he just wanted that mischievous smile and grinning set of eyes back to lighten up the JL meetings with his sardonic and, at times, rather lewd commentary. He also missed the young man who dropped by unannounced to have a very serious debate on the breast sizes of the female side of the JL and drink all of Lantern's good imported microbrews. It took a week before he could look at Wonder Woman without his eyes drifting to her bust and her glares as he ogled her. Nightwing hadn't been effected, the kid only showed up to JL meetings if Batman hogtied him and dragged him to the Space Station. He didn't have to live in fear of that blasted Lasso of Truth.  
  
Yes, Nightwing was very much the little brother that Lantern needed to see safe and sound. Especially after he tracked down the hounfour where Nightwing had made contact with the loa who supposedly helped him in forming his protections against Slade. The hougoun told him everything about the ceremony and even connected the loas, who said that since Mait' Carrefour failed Nightwing, Nightwing was in the hands of the one who had summoned him from his home world as a child. It had been six years since that visit, ten since Nightwing vanished in India.  
  
That day had been a mess. Aquaman had called up to the JL Station and reported that Raven was locked in a sensory deprivation chamber after telling his son that Nightwing had left that dimension without calling her. Always before Nightwing called Raven and at least Batman to let them know he was going to his other friends to help them out with their business. They found Peter a week later in a leaden box welded shut and dropped in the Pacific. Peter's magic was the only thing keeping him alive at that point and he was a danger to everyone because without Nightwing, he had no control over his death glares and instincts. It had been Beast and Superman who healed the basilisk, but everyone tried to do what they could.  
  
Peter was their only clue to finding Nightwing, but Peter left their world as soon as he was able. Now it was up to Emily Winner, Flash's wife and total opposite, to figure out how non warlocks and sorcerers could travel like Nightwing and Peter could. They tried to help, but of all of the people she had come to rely on Green Lantern, the worst student of his class at Davidson High, to figure out the magic needed to power the physics that would turn the Gateway Mirror into a bridge. It scared him at first but Emily had something in common with his all but blood brother, she never made him feel like a dunce when spouting off on relativity and space-time, he understood it when she talked about it.  
  
But, oh God, did he miss Nightwing.  
  
=  
  
(End Chapter Two- The Theory of Relative-ity)


	3. It Is a Noble Quest to Undertake

Title: The Bridge Between Here and Beyond.  
  
Author: P.L.S.  
  
Rating: Was Mild to Medium Salsa, Now is Medium to Hot with a bit of Tabasco Sauce mixed in the Salsa.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Harry Potter, Teen Titans, or any of the DC Comics canon.  
  
Summery: Harry Potter has been chained body and soul to his master for ten years. For him it has been a journey through a dark tunnel and now someone has opened up the other end and he can see the light. But that is no promise that he's going to get free.  
  
Warnings: Mentions of slash, BDSM, non-con, rape, torture, and general depravity from our favorite sorcerer. I'm boosting up the rating for this and what it could lead to. When I started this, I really had no clue that it would lead to this, but there you go. Slade and his friends are squicking me!  
  
=  
  
(Chapter Three- It's a Noble Quest to Undertake)  
  
=  
  
Slade smiled as he listened to the filibustering of Hermes and Mercurius, identical twin brothers cut of two opposite cloths. But both had always used the same agenda and had the same goals, which was why they had bypassed Chronos and were at the Council at Havengates. The two amused him, which could be why they thought they had a better chance at getting what they wanted from him, rather than from the Congress of Titannian or from the Olympian Hall's leaders, Zeus and his wife Hera, who wasn't a sorcerer, but she was a very powerful invoker and maldictator.  
  
Despite the great arguments coming from Mercurius, Hermes was the brain behind this request though. The fact that Hermes was once the patron god of thieves was no accident, the man had yet to change. Mercurius was by far the more level headed and the more inclined to avoid out right supporting of amoral behaviors in public. No, he was once the patron of business and commerce, and he too was just as ethically challenged as his brother, but he was far more underhanded and subtle. All those who called Olympian Hall home were once trained by Zeus, who was about as straight laced as a sorcerer ever was, excepting his little habit of being a womanizer. It made Slade wonder if being depraved in some way was a requirement to being a sorcerer.  
  
He couldn't think of one sorcerer who was an upright and shinning example of virtue. Chastity, honesty, chivalry, fairness, kindness, mercy, conscientiousness, and law-abiding seemed as if they were dirty words for most of the sorcerers and sorceresses. Slade wasn't the most sinful of the bunch. No, not at all. Oddly, he seemed like an angel compared to Baal, who was a pedophile and who convinced a whole section of the world to kill their children at his whim for hundreds of years. Satanian, a fellow World Controller, was infamous for having a whole world in eternal agony, he even took away the peoples' ability to die. It was Satanian who had the only warlock that never even needed to be threatened in order to grant his master's every whim. Morally challenged was an understatement for DeSade, Satanian's warlock. The man got off on causing pain and even receiving pain as well.  
  
Slade shook his head in exasperation with the twins and just granted them permission to take on the fun of being a World Controller. It was easier than staying awake as Hermes started to tell one of his never-ending stories again. Both hi-fived each other and did some sort of modern version of a victory dance. The boys spent way too much time on the many Earths. Then a thought struck him, aside from that idiot Jesus who was some kind of immortal, they ruled all of creation. A bunch of sadistic, cruel, and powerful people ruled the people of all the worlds. He knew there was a creator, that much was a basic truth to all of the sorcerers, but that the creator was twisted enough to leave them in charge was obscenely funny. He told this to Kali, who was sitting next to him and she laughed at the thought.  
  
Oh, yes. Agreed, the Creator has to be even more sick than us. She paused, Slade, you want to come and have some fun with Shiva and I after this? We're just going to hang out on our Earth, suck up some worship, and try to feel out an trained warlock or two.  
  
You mean feel up. snarked Slade and Kali rolled her eyes.  
  
Duh. Those are the most fun to play with. No fight to get them in bed and after that you can have a full BDSM session that they will get pleasure out of and they will remember only that it hurt and they loved getting hurt. Then watching them as they try to find pleasure in S&M but can't even get pleasure from straight vanilla. Kali closed her eyes and smiled in a very evil way, Yes, the untrained are the best toys.  
  
I don't know, I get quite a fill from the total ownership of my warlock. Slade said with a smirk, The look on his face as I let him remember each and every time I've broken his body then had him, and then the look of total trust an innocence the next day when I've blocked out those memories. It is much more fun for me to see his mind break day after day. Kali laughed at his description.  
  
Ah, yes. I keep forgetting your lovely little angel of death. Kali smiled indulgently, Bring him, force him to violently take the innocence of one of the untrained. Have him torture them then have him get you off. Slade considered it. It did sound like fun.  
  
Maybe he'd have to call Shade off the hunt early.  
  
=  
  
Draco was on cloud nine as he showed Harry around the small house that he had just east of Cambridge. Of course small for a Malfoy was equal to a mansion to the rest of the world. He babbled on and on about the enjoyable little antidotes of their mutual past, his jobs as President of M&S, his adopted son, their friend Severus and how the man hated and yet loved teaching, about how Severus's familiar Fawkes play-fought with Peter about sitting the closest to the fireplaces, and even about how they conspired to get rid of Voldemort by poisoning his supper.  
  
Harry smiled and took it all in, happy that Draco was happy. It was an unusual thing for him, but he really did want only Draco's happiness out of life. He was also pleased that as Draco prattled on and on, it was all the information he wanted on his old life. Alexi Draco Malfoy was ten years old and in his first year at Hogwarts a whole year early, the child was excelling in potions and in Defense Against the Dark Arts like his old man (a term that irritated Draco to no end, which amused Harry.) The potions thing was probably due to the summer visits from Severus and all the inadvertent tutoring that happened when you asked the man a question on his passion. Draco knew that Alexi's gift in Defense was due to him now being a blood Malfoy (there was some potion that parents of the adopted children of wizards were allowed to give them to change their genetic code.) All blood Malfoys were gifted in the Dark Arts (probably to make up for the blinding color of their hair, or that's what Harry thought.) All this information was from just the conversation held as Draco showed off the first of five floors of the northernmost wing.  
  
As they finished with the second floor it struck Harry how much Draco talked when excited.  
  
As they were halfway through the third floor Harry concreted forcing calming potions down Draco's throat.  
  
As they finished the fourth floor Harry was pondering how to call for Peter to knock the blond out.  
  
As they were at the top of the stairs to the fifth floor Harry sent a wave of magic into Draco that sent the other to sleep. Harry sighed in relief.  
  
He now knew more about the wizarding world, the histories of each an every work of art in the house, Alexi's sheltered childhood, Peter's love of pickles, and his two best friends' sex lives, which, thankfully, were separate, than he had ever wanted to know.  
  
Ah, I see Draco finally annoyed you enough with his chatter to get you to put him to sleep. came a deep commanding voice with a faint hint of joy mixed into it. Harry looked up to see the man who had been walking with Peter the night he had arrived.  
  
I now know about every date and lesions you have had in the past fifteen years, Severus. Harry said and the man smiled ruefully and shook his head.  
  
That just means he gets to tell Lexi all about the birds and the bees, not me. Severus said as he shoved his long salt and pepper hair behind his ears and into a ponytail. Harry smiled at him.  
  
It's nice to see you in the flesh. The way Draco explained it you were my mentor and teacher in being a warlock then in witchcraft and whatever other magics I know, as well as our friend. I'm just sorry that I can't recall my life before enslavement. I assume the bond I have with my master erased them, or he has the power to take the memories out of my mind. Harry said and Severus looked sad.  
  
If he's a sorcerer, I suspect the later. said Severus and Harry felt himself pale.  
  
He is. Severus's hands clenched at those two words and his face tightened in rage. It took a few moments of the man cursing under his breath and looking a bit panicked as well as angrier than Harry had ever seen anyone, but Severus calmed down.  
  
Does Draco know?  
  
=  
  
Emily was still kicking herself as the last adjustments to the Gateway Mirror were made. Magic wasn't the panacea that she had talked herself into thinking it was. Stupidly she forgot that just like some non magical problems had magical solution, some magical problems had non magical solutions. The mirror was done the week after she had that epiphany.  
  
Thankfully she wasn't alone in her mood, Green Lantern was equally angry with himself that he didn't see the solution, it was all too easy to spot.  
  
They were going to use the strings of gravity that free floated between dimensions to open up the gateway and the Mirror could then send a number of them off to trail the disturbance that Peter had left in his wake. Emily was staying behind to monitor the Mirror from their side, but Lantern was going to set up the second Mirror which would be their doorway back to the first Mirror which it was linked to. Flash was going to stay with her, even if she could see that he wanted to go with Lantern, Superman, Hawk Girl, and Shadow, a new Titan who Beast insisted go (Emily could tell the kid was giving the man a hard time.) The kid was fifteen and very independent, he was also the one who cracked the encryption on the old computers of the tower.  
  
Shadow had fashioned himself after the radio show character from the 30's who had used his powers of suggestion, deduction, and ability to blend into the shadows to stop crime. He was a rather scrawny kid, but Emily had seen the tapes from the training rooms. Shadow had even bested for of the more gifted of the new Titans, even if his methods were a bit underhanded. His style reminded the old Titans of the first Robin, as well did his talent for sneaking about and needing to trick the criminals into trusting him and telling him all their plans, under very clever disguises that is.  
  
She watched as Superman, with his streaks of gray along the sides of his head, ruffled the short black curls of the dark gray and ruby red clad Shadow who was holding his black trench coat and black fedora. Green Lantern was smiling as he magically bound the shrunken parts of the second Mirror to himself and Hawk Girl fussed with her mace. A stray spark jumped off of the silver mace and at Shadow who closed his eyes and caught it in a black leather gloved hand. Until Emily had seen him do that for the first time last Tuesday, she was a bit unsure about him being on the mission. Fighting in a training room was nothing like going into the unknown and having to face whole new worlds with wholly different ways of life.  
  
But Shadow had a keen mind and really did understand the principles behind the Mirror, he even had been the one to set up the computers in both Mirrors. Besides Lantern, who had worked with her on the theory for years, it was only Shadow who she now trusted to get her friends back once they crossed to Nightwing's world.  
  
She powered up the Gateway Mirror, the mechanisms were running and the glass was changing into that odd quicksilver that rippled and flashed faint images that none could make out. She turned on the tracer and it was off tracking the trail that Peter used. The signal was strong and in the clear.  
  
Emily gave the all clear as she flipped on the lock and the Mirror's surface was now glowing with energy. The four walked into the liquid and vanished along the path to Nightwing's home.  
  
Flash gave her a hug as she put the machine on standby.  
  
She gave up on being strong and sobbed out all her worries and stress.  
  
She just used an untested portal to new worlds on some of the best friends she had ever had.  
  
=  
  
(End Chapter Three- It's a Noble Quest to Undertake)


	4. The Vanishing Point

Title: The Bridge Between Here and Beyond.  
  
Author: P.L.S.  
  
Rating: Was Mild to Medium Salsa, Now is Medium to Hot with a bit of Tabasco Sauce mixed in the Salsa.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Harry Potter, Teen Titans, or any of the DC Comics canon.  
  
Summery: Harry Potter has been chained body and soul to his master for ten years. For him it has been a journey through a dark tunnel and now someone has opened up the other end and he can see the light. But that is no promise that he's going to get free.  
  
Warnings: Mentions of slash, BDSM, non-con, rape, torture, and general depravity from our favorite sorcerer. I'm boosting up the rating for this and what it could lead to. When I started this, I really had no clue that it would lead to this, but there you go. Slade and his friends are squicking me!  
  
=  
  
(Chapter Four- The Vanishing Point)  
  
=  
  
Severus had left to go get Alexi from Hogwarts with a note from Draco, just in case anyone dared to raise a fuss about the visit. Draco was adamant that Harry meet the kid who was Draco's heir and Harry's godson, if the man would take the responsibility on. Harry was hesitant to take on such a task, he was still bonded to his master, but Draco only saw what he wanted to when it came to things that he was set on.  
  
Harry had insisted Draco do some real work as he and Peter talked about his other life. Peter informed him in a succinct but very amusing monologue about his friends, his contacts, and his exploits as Nightwing. He was laughing as Peter detailed the list of people he wanted to be allowed to eat, from the tastiest to least appetizing.  
  
The snake also detailed who Harry should he killed straight off, like the Thompson-man who Peter insisted had betrayed him to his enemy who took him far away. Peter was very angry about the betrayal, it seemed that it was almost instinctual to live up to each and every promise and to never give anyone up to a foe, even if it is someone you are fighting with.  
  
Peter even attempted to give Harry his memories to fill in the blanks but his serpent memories were just too incompatible with his mind. It was the difference in senses that really threw the memories off, Harry's mind just couldn't translate vibrations and chemical tastes from the air into visuals that humans tended to use. It was interesting and Harry made note to ask Draco for information on serpentine senses.  
  
It was as Peter was telling him about how fun it was to prank Bruce Wayne a.k.a. Batman when the summon hit. His master wanted him at his side at that instant, no matter what he was doing. Harry tried to fight that pull. Peter helped by adding his magic to Harry's shielding and by pulling Harry to the office where Draco was making a paper clip chain. Draco dropped everything and came to Harry's side.  
  
He's calling. whispered Harry. Draco blanched.  
  
No! I won't let him take you. I just got you back! Draco hugged him close, instinctively putting up an aura of shielding magic. Harry couldn't move, the pull was slowly draining his physical power. He closed his eyes, hoping against all hope that his master wouldn't be able to fight his best friend and his familiar.  
  
=  
  
Severus arrived just after Alexi via floo. The blond boy with icy blue eyes was standing in the room with a look of puzzlement at the family clock. Draco's hand was on Fighting for a Lost Cause' and the hand that was Harry's was on In Grave Danger'.  
  
I've seen that hand on the clock for years but it was always either on In Need of Prayer' or said Alexi in bewilderment.  
  
Why aren't you more concerned about your father's hand? asked Severus. Alexi shot him a smirk that was pure Malfoy.  
  
Dad's hand is on Fighting for a Lost Cause' any time he tries to organize his office, or any time he tries to organize anything. Alexi said and Severus had to agree. Draco just was not the kind of person to have a neat desk with everything in marked file folders, but somehow he always managed to be on top of everything.  
  
Alexi walked to the clock and pressed the button to switch the face to the location. Draco's and Harry's hands pointed to Harry's room. Severus gulped, getting an uneasy feeling about them. He took off at a fast clip to the room that had always been called Harry's room. He flung open the door to see Draco casting ward after ward over the pale and still form of the young Harry. Draco looked back, his eyes wild.  
  
Severus. Help me. Draco's eyes were on the verge of tears, His master is calling him, trying to get Harry back. I can't lose him. Not again. Severus nodded and took the other side of the bed and started to cast in tandem with Draco. Peter was at the foot doing whatever magic a basilisk and cosmic serpent did.  
  
Alexi stood in the doorway to the room, watching as his family did their damnedest to save the man on the bed who looked like he was a step away from death. He had heard the desperation in his father's voice, this had to be the mysterious Uncle Harry that he had grown up hearing stories about from his father and small antidotes from his Uncle Severus. This was the man who's familiar (a real live cosmic serpent) had lived with them for five years, the man who was a powerful warlock who poisoned the Dark Lord Voldemort with basilisk venom based poison made by Uncle Severus. And he was the one that his father sometimes had nightmares and dreams about.  
  
Alexi came closer, looking at the man, his Uncle Harry. He was thin and pale, had longer and darker hair than Uncle Severus, and was breathing raspy gasps. Every time he breathed in his eyes opened for just a second, but Alexi saw the emerald green with hints of blue and gold in them. Alexi couldn't help the feeling of longing, he wanted to know the man.  
  
He crawled onto the bed, careful of the long hair and put his Uncle Harry's head in his lap and started to stroke the baby fine hair that curled in tight ringlets around his fingers. He muttered along with his father and Uncle Severus, wanting to aide them in the spells that they wanted to save the pale man who much younger than them.  
  
Uncle Harry, please don't die. Dad would be devastated and so would Uncle Severus. But I think Dad has a crush on you, so you can't leave us until you get to hear him admit it. I think I'd like you as my other father, Dad and Uncle Severus talk about you as if you were my godfather already. You know Dad's never been serious about anyone he's ever dated, but you. I think he'd become a muggle if you asked it. Dad loves you and I think I could love you too.' Alexi thought as loudly as he could at the still man in his lap.  
  
Green eyes opened to his blue, the eyes were full of love, Alexi, I'm sorry. came a whisper, I'd love to stay and be your Papa, but if I stay my master will kill me. soft fingers touched his cheek and Alexi held the hand to his face.  
  
Don't go. Dad needs you. Alexi felt himself crying and a wave of warm and soothing power wash over him. There was a soft pop and a tiny gray kitten was curling up next to him.  
  
I have to leave. Alexi, take care of your Dad, Uncle Sev, and Ivan. Ivan is now your familiar like Peter is mine and Fawkes is Severus's. Peter will help you take care of your Dad, and I know you haven't been forth coming with your gifts. You're a pareselmouth, use it. There is a nest of basilisk at Hogwarts, tell them you are now my heir as well as your father's. They will help you come into your own as the heir of the Slytherin line. Harry was now sitting up and cradling Alexi. Harry put Ivan into Alexi's hands and put Alexi into Draco's arms.  
  
No, no, no, no, no, ... Alexi mumbled as he saw the look of resignation on his Uncle Harry's face. Harry took no notice of this, no motion to shush the babbling.  
  
Harry stood and a shroud of darkness coated him and disappeared leaving what Alexi could only call a muggle vision of Death. From the silver scythe to the total cover of dark clothes, the man he knew was one day going to marry his Dad vanished with one last soft touch to his face.  
  
Alexi couldn't help but sob into his Dad's shoulder who hugged him and cried as well.  
  
The kid had a bad feeling about his Uncle Harry's future.  
  
=  
  
He appeared kneeling before his master, praying that the sorcerer would be in too good of a mood to punish him. He knew his prayers fell on deaf ears when his master kicked him away.  
  
I see you finally returned to me, slave. muttered his master in his coldest voice. He could feel the pain starting to build up, slowly. What could have kept you from my side?  
  
Harry refused to look up into the unyielding eyes that would rip him apart to get the answer. He shut his mouth against a spike of pain as the master waited for his answer. The bond with Peter was still strong, his memories of Draco, Severus, and Alexi were vivid and at the front of his mind. He was going to give them away the instant his master demanded an answer. He sent the fear and the desperate plea to Peter, who responded with reassurance that he was placing them under his own powerful version of the Fidelus Charm, no one with the intention to harm them or to harm Harry would get close to them. Alexi was urging Draco to move into Hogwarts with Severus in order to take advantage of the protection that Peter assured Harry and Alexi was there.  
  
His thoughts stopped when his master crouched down, gripped his chin, and forced Harry to meet his eyes. Then came the cruel smile of his master's. The chuckle followed, I see. I had forgotten that the boy was your friend at one point. No problem. The serpent won't survive the week. The boy will fall soon after, then the male witch, then, as he curses ever knowing you, the son of the man I sent you to kill. The master stood and chuckled as he shook his head, If you were a good little servant I wouldn't have to sentence them, like this, but you just keep condemning your loved ones to death. I suggest that if you want that other group of your unremembered friends alive, you listen to your master. Understood? Harry ducked his head and bit his lip.  
  
Yes, master. he muttered.  
  
Good. Follow me. I have something interesting for you to do. his master started to walk down the hallway he had appeared in but stopped, Oops, nearly forgot. he snapped his fingers and Harry felt that bond with Peter snap and break with painful abruptness. Harry bit back his scream of pain but spasms shook his still frail frame. His master's booted foot kicked him again,   
  
=  
  
(End Chapter Four- The Vanishing Point)


	5. Divine Interruptions

Title: The Bridge Between Here and Beyond.  
  
Author: P.L.S.  
  
Rating: Was Mild to Medium Salsa, Now is Medium to Hot with a bit of Tabasco Sauce mixed in the Salsa.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Harry Potter, Teen Titans, or any of the DC Comics canon.  
  
Summery: Harry Potter has been chained body and soul to his master for ten years. For him it has been a journey through a dark tunnel and now someone has opened up the other end and he can see the light. But that is no promise that he's going to get free.  
  
Warnings: Mentions of slash, BDSM, non-con, rape, torture, and general depravity from our favorite sorcerer. I'm boosting up the rating for this and what it could lead to. When I started this, I really had no clue that it would lead to this, but there you go. Slade and his friends are squicking me!  
  
=  
  
(Chapter Five- Divine Interruptions)  
  
=  
  
Shadow looked around the odd room which was filled with children and teens in robes of black and adults in robes of various shades or in rather dull outdoorsy clothes. He put his trench coat on and flipped his hat onto his head with a flourish that was second nature. At least he looked a bit more like the natives than the spandex and body armor clad adults. He knew he shouldn't but all the kids looked so scared,   
  
Yeah, that did it, screams, little feet running in terror, and Hawk Girl swatting him over the head for being a trouble maker. It didn't help his case that Superman was frowning as he chuckled at the pandaemonium.  
  
Now I get why Beast wanted us to take him. muttered Green Lantern as he unloaded the Mirror from his back.  
  
Hey! You saw them, how could I resist? Shadow pleaded and the three older heroes scowled at him.  
  
Shadow, you better hope Nightwing is about here, or your on restriction. said Superman, He's the only one who would have supported that act of pure juvenile delinquency. Shadow sighed and looked at the adults who were trying to calm the kids and pointing sticks at them. The some of the older kids had them covered with the funky sticks too.  
  
Shadow then did something he knew he was going to get hit for, HEY, NIGHTWING! OLLY, OLLY, OXEN FREE!!! Right on time, Hawk Girl whacked his skull again, but that didn't stop some of the students from sniggering at his antics. The big set of doors to the right banged open and a pale man with shoulder length gray and black hair in dark swirling robes stormed in and snarled at the students who backed off. He and the blond man who followed him studied them for a minute.  
  
Do you know Harry? asked the blond with a scared voice. Superman nodded.  
  
We know him as Dick Grayson or Nightwing. he said.  
  
Okay. I'm Draco Malfoy, this is Severus Snape, and, he pulled a smaller boy with blond hair and a gray kitten up to stand next to him, This is my son, Harry's godchild and our heir.  
  
I'm Superman, this is Green Lantern, Hawk Girl, and Shadow. Draco sighed.  
  
Thank the gods. he muttered.  
  
We need to go to a more private room. Something just happened that I'm sure you'll want to know. Severus said in a crisp tone that booked no argument. He then turned to the teachers, Albus, consider them my guests. I'll tell you what I can later, but this concerns Sunseeker. the oldest man nodded solemnly and Severus turned to walk out of the room. Draco offered them a small shrug and they followed the dark man to a rather luxurious room in the dungeons of what had to be a castle. Shadow was impressed with the taste in the decor and the humor in having the polished silver manacles hanging near the door.  
  
The scary man in black smirked at him as he told him so, They are in perfect working order too, I just redid all the enchantments a week ago. Would you like to try them on? This caused Hawk Girl to laugh and Superman inquire where he could find a set. Shadow scowled at them and tweaked the shadows. Unfortunately Green Lantern caught him and put a bubble about them.  
  
Ah, foiled again! I would have succeeded if it weren't for you meddling Lantern. growled out Shadow. He knew entirely too many cartoon quotes because of his roommates and their Saturday morning rituals. Everyone was giving him that Are you sure you aren't on something look?' Shadow sighed and collapsed next to Alexi and his cat.  
  
So, you guys are the fellows that Harry's grown up with? asked Draco trying to break the tension.  
  
Sort of. He was really raised by Batman and Alfred. I was kind of an adoptive uncle to the kid. said Superman, The only reason Batman didn't come was because he has a whole city to watch over with his wife and their second sort of adopted son and he is trying to convince her that more kids would be a good idea. Superman explained with a half smile.  
  
So how are the rest of you related to Harry? asked Severus from his chair.  
  
Dick, um, Harry's kind of like a little brother to me and Hawk Girl. We've been working with several others for years on a way to follow the path Peter took in hopes that we'd find him here. said Lantern with a sad tone, He's not here, is he? Alexi shook his head.  
  
No, you missed him by just a day. said the kid and Shadow was struck by how sad the kid was. He put an arm around him and gave him a half hug.  
  
Hey, buck up. You're acting like he's dead. said Shadow.  
  
It is like he's dead. Peter's bond with him snapped. said the boy.  
  
This is Nightwing we are talking about, the kid who dared to take on Slade mono-a-mono a fair number of times, the kid who survived some kind of weird death curse thing. He just doesn't die. said Shadow.  
  
He rode a wild Horntail just because Dad said it was impossible. said Alexi with rising hope, I got the pictures from that. Draco chuckled as he remembered that.  
  
Oh, indeed. Bloody prat just about made me faint in fear, but he did it. Draco said, Okay, point well made, Mr. Shadow. Harry wouldn't just up and die without one heck of a fight.  
  
Cool, so what are the long faces about? asked Shadow.  
  
Harry appeared on this world about three says ago, with no memories from life prior to being enslaved to a sorcerer. The most first day he slept and talked with Draco, but the second he and Peter spent trying to get his memory back to no avail. At the end of that day his master called him back and he tried to fight with our aide. In the end it was either stay and die or go. He left. Just two hours later Peter let out a cry and passed out. Today he awoke in a weakened state, and told Alexi that once again the bond was destroyed. Severus reported. It was Green Lantern who spoke first.  
  
We feared that. The sorcerer, his name is Slade. He's the High Sorcerer of the Havengates and as of now we have no way to break this bond he has with Slade, but if he is himself, despite memory loss... We might have a chance. he said, We need a safe place to set up the Gateway Mirror, which we brought, so that we and you can travel between out worlds. Some of our allies might have clues to how to combat a sorcerer of his power. Lantern said and the two robed adults looked curious.  
  
A way between the worlds? Are any of you warlocks? asked Severus.  
  
No, I'm a conjurer and enchanter. It was through those skills, lots of research, mixing of alien technologies, and trial and error that we created the Mirrors. Lantern answered. Severus nodded. Shadow noticed a slight change in them both and came into two brick walls as he tried to read them.  
  
That means the rules are changing. Gaps made are being bridged. he said and everyone but Lantern was confused.  
  
We are probably going to be fighting the old order to bring forth the new way.  
  
It is that way every time corruption sets in. They forgot that power is gifted, not deserved.  
  
New gifts will be given, new lives need to be chosen to last through the age.  
  
I leave that to you. I am the destroyer, not the rebuilder.  
  
As always you draw the best task.  
  
So you say. The Creator never gives us more than we can handle.  
  
True. The choices shall be made as the keeper of the bridge between the moral realms and the beyond comes out of sleep. He shall be the next to have the three keys to give to whom he will.  
  
You are happy with your chosen mortal body?  
  
I am.  
  
Good, this time I will not stand for your whining.  
  
Are you?  
  
I am content for now, this moral is compatible with me.  
  
You mean he's as much of a bitter and malicious creep as you are? That's not possible.  
  
I'm guessing yours has that sickenly sweet idealism that will refuse to die like you.  
  
You say the sweetest things.  
  
Quiet. You'll scare the morals.  
  
A bit late for that. But look, the one who tried to read us is bouncing in his seat with questions though.  
  
You deal with them. I'm going to go spy on the doomed. an evil smile spread out on Severus's face and he vanished leaving a pouting Lantern.  
  
  
  
=  
  
(End Chapter Five- Divine Interruptions)


	6. Keeping the Keeper

Title: The Bridge Between Here and Beyond.

Author: P.L.S.

Rating: Was Mild to Medium Salsa, Now is Medium to Hot with a bit of Tabasco Sauce mixed in the Salsa.

Disclaimer: I donÂ't own anything from Harry Potter, Teen Titans, or any of the DC Comics canon.

Summery: Harry Potter has been chained body and soul to his master for ten years. For him it has been a journey through a dark tunnel and now someone has opened up the other end and he can see the light. But that is no promise that heÂ's going to get free.

Warnings: Mentions of slash, BDSM, non-con, rape, torture, and general depravity from our favorite sorcerer. IÂ'm boosting up the rating for this and what it could lead to. When I started this, I really had no clue that it would lead to this, but there you go. Slade and his friends are squicking me!

A/N: Sigh IÂ've just finished the crappiest week of this year. When I agreed to transfer from aiding in Resource LD (ADHD, dyslexia, ESL, ect.) to Mild Mental Disabilities (Downs Syndrome, light to medium autism, mental retardation in itÂ's many forms and other mental disabilities) I was thinking okay, IÂ've worked with them before (an hour a day teaching reading comp. for AR testing) no problem, besides that means more hours! This was the first week of school, and IÂ'm sure now I really need a way to de-stress. The six kids are mentally from 2 years to 4, mentally speaking, and only one is in full command of English( but she has an attitude problem in the extreme that I fear is enforced at home.) The rest are semi-cooperative but because they have difficulties in communication, get frustrated and take it out on others, themselves, objects in the classroom, or me. The worst part is, I care. I really do feel some kind of love for each of them, want to be there, want to help them, wish I could cast some spell to just heal them. Hugs, reading to them, and being there just doesnÂ't seem like enough some days.

It also doesnÂ't help that one of my students from resource last school year seems to be having trouble getting along with students in his class and hangs out with me on the playground as I watch over my students this year. All I can do for him is talk with him, listen, and pray that he makes a real friend. I care about him too.

IÂ'm really peeved and saddened that my petition for residency was denied today and I have to wait another year to be considered instate, in-county to get the lower rates on my tuition for school. So, another year of just getting twelve credits, being kicked off my parentsÂ' insurance, and only getting one semesters worth of credits this year. Sorry, but I needed to get that off my chest, and give you guys a good reason for why this chapter might be odder than normal.

I have to give a big thank you to my reviewers, you really do cheer me up and keep me going. I-Shave-Clowns, thanks for putting up that new chapter, depressing stories really do have a way of making me smile. Other good news- Gravitation 6! I found it at the local comic store today and I loved it. Suichii really has a way of making me laugh with his pure idiocy. And I just adore KÂ's fetish with guns and terrorizing people with them. :)

Sorry again about the long note... If you are actually reading this, thank you for listening to me whine. I do love my job, or at least thatÂ's what I keep telling myself in the mornings. Just kidding, I do love it.

(Chapter Six- Keeping the Keeper)

Draco found himself very confused and worried as the strange man in green muttered under his breath about dark destruction forces and their need to just ditch him when the going got tough. It was Alexi who spoke up first though.

Â"Okay, whomever has taken over Green Lantern, explain.Â" he said in his young, but in a very commanding Malfoy voice. Draco wondered if he came off like that when he was eleven, or if he sounded like a spoiled brat. The man smiled at him.

Â"I am the Spirit of Rebirth, young spellbinder.Â" said the man and Alexi sighed.

Â"I understood that much, IÂ'm not an idiot. I have read stories of the recreation and reconciliation.Â" said the child and the man sighed.

Â"From the dark mageÂ's books no doubt.Â" said the man and Alexi nodded.

Â"Uncle Severus has a number of odd books that IÂ've looked at from time to time.Â" Draco gave Alexi a stern look.

Â"Now, I know Severus has a no touching policy with his personal library, young man. When did you get to look a those Â'odd booksÂ'?Â" he said in his best parental tone. Severus really did have a good reason for his books being locked away, many were cursed or dangerous in other ways. One had to be trained in several forms of magic to even begin to look at the covers without fearing for your very life. Alexi had the grace to look embarrassed.

Â"Well, you see Dad... Er, am I in trouble? Just donÂ't ground me, I mean this phase of creation is on the cusp of ending and the new one is beginning... ItÂ'd be kind of stupid to ground me at a time like this, right?Â" Alexi stammered and Shadow laughed at his nervousness in the face of a stern daddy getting ready to punish him for doing something stupid.

Draco sighed, Â"Alexi, IÂ'm going to need a few hours to think about a suitable punishment for endangering your life like that and betraying your Uncle SeverusÂ's trust in such an idiotic and a manner so contrary to out family values. Now, Spirit of Rebirth, please to explain why you and that other felt the need to possess our friends and why the creation of the Gateway Mirror is the start of the end of this phase of existence.Â"

Â"Yes, that.Â" The spirit grimaced, Â"Well, there are rules for us spirits and one is that we may only possess those who know of us, of the event which tips the balance, and welcomes our spirits. These two were our only two options, this man knew of us, knew of the event, and this one welcomed me just as the Spirit of Destruction was welcomed by that other. Each cycle is part of a forty phase sequence which will end with the Reconciliation. This is phase five, soon to end and bring about phase six.

Â"My job is to take the cream of the crop of this phase, or rather those who I take a shine to, and place them in the second highest tier for the next phase, but first I need to find the keeper of the bridge between the moral realms and the beyond who will help me break the seal on the old reigning class, transfer the positions, and seal the new reigning class. Until I find him, she, it, or whatever incarnation the blasted keeper took this time, this whole thing is on hold. Destruction might assist me, but really heÂ's focused on the way the most devastation can be wrought on the old reigning class and whatever theyÂ've done.

Â"The worst part is, the keeper likes to live full and interesting lives. Meaning I canÂ't just look for folks who just appeared out of thin air, but folks who were born into this phase. He wonÂ't even recall that heÂ's the keeper until I set the new staff that he will enchant himself into his hands while whispering some stupid password three times. He thinks itÂ's all just great fun and games to have me do this.Â" the spirit looked very teed-off now, and all could understand why, even if two of their number already liked the keeper guy just from that unflattering description.

Alexi and Shadow shared a smile and both scratched the catÂ's head as it purred between them, Â"So, he could even be a tree or a animal?Â" asked Shadow and the spirit groaned.

Â"DonÂ't remind me. Once he was a tortoise that I couldnÂ't find for a hundred fifty of your years. He had a real big laugh at that. He would become some rare fungus in a very hard to navigate rain forest or bacteria that only grows in a geyser on some far away and hard to reach mountain just to spite me.Â" said the spirit with a scowl.

Â"Sounds like a difficult person.Â" said Superman. The spirit laughed.

Â"Yes, but I really do like him. Once he tried to convince me to pick based on whether or not IÂ'd be attracted to their physical charms. We ended up ushering in an age of perverts, nymphomaniacs, and rampant promiscuity.Â" the spirit smiled fondly then frowned and closed his eyes, Â"Do you know a dark haired man with green eyes. This person has memories of someone who fits the keeperÂ's personality in almost every form.Â"

Â"ThatÂ's Harry!Â" exclaimed Draco.

Â"Yeah, it has to be Nightwing.Â" said Hawk Girl, Â"When he got into a mood, he would be just as bad as that keeper you described.Â"

Â"Good. Hopefully this time I wonÂ't have to search far and wide.Â"

Â"You might.Â" said Superman and everyone looked at him, Â"NightwingÂ's a sorcererÂ's warlock, bond and sealed off from us. The sorcerer is the High Sorcerer of some council too, and might start to recognize him for what he is. We were meeting here to start to try to figure out how to free him, but it might be impossible.Â" he said with a grave face and a sad voice. The spirit nodded.

Â"I see. If I or Destruction get involved then this High Sorcerer will know why we are after the keeper.Â" the spirit looked concerned, Â"The keeper is in grave danger by just being a warlock, the power that this corrupt reigning order has over them is abhorrent. This order was not as bad when I first chose them, but this is the first time IÂ'm really regretting my picks.Â" he shook his head and put his chin into his hand.

Harry groaned and sagged in his bonds. His master had his magic closed to him and was still pouring in the wretched and vivid memories of all the times he had been raped or worse by his master or his masterÂ's friends. He always did this just before another session of sexual torture and pain. This time he was told that the memories would stay and that he would continue to be a good little slave or he would be the direct cause of the deaths of his other group of forgotten friends. Yes, his master would force him to go and slaughter the Justice League and Titans.

He opened his eyes to the blood stained room of one of his masterÂ's friendÂ's, the sorcerer and World Controller, Satanian. It was just the second part of his five part punishment for daring to befriend a target and to try to avoid the call. It was SatanianÂ's warlock who scared him most of all. The man looked as human as he was, but was taking pure joy from hurting him and others in the most private and damaging ways.

It was for his friends that his master had kept him young, prefect skinned, pale, long haired, and all around pretty. They all loved it when the great High Sorcerer put out the invite for the use of him, and they all were in some ways worse than his master was. At least his master was constant and really preferred to degrade him, as opposed to the weird and often painful stuff the other sorcerers wanted.

As of now he was alone, the silence was oddly depressing. He was so used to moans, whimpers, groans, and most of all screams; the stillness was anticipatory and seemed to be waiting for something evil to happen. He couldnÂ't even hear his breathing, and he could feel his raspy gasps for oxygen. Something was wrong. Something was dead wrong.

Then he heard it, soft strains of a new song. Just whispers, but still stirring his soul and summoning what little power he still had to heal him. Two voices intertwined, melodious in a creepy way.

{I sing the body electric,

{I celebrate the me that is to come.

[I sing the body electric,

[I glory in the glow of rebirth.

It was almost a chant, just those two lines. But the magic they invoked was so pure and cleansing that Harry felt like he should hide from it. How could that magic survive touching his defiled body and his shattered soul. But it called to him, he whispered along with it, Â"I sing the body electric, I celebrate the me that is to come. I sing the body electric, I glory in the glow of rebirth.Â" Those words reverberated in him echoing and healing him from the soul out to the mind, then out to the whole of his body. He chanted them with the singers, alternating between the lines, singing louder and louder to harmonize with the voices. Just as he reached perfection Slade entered with Satanian behind him, both looking murderous.

Slade backhanded him and pressed a knife to his throat.

Â"HeÂ's the one we need to keep away from the spirits.Â" said Satanian with a angry look at Harry who was confused.

Â"Why do you think IÂ've been seeking him since his birth? All know that I took it upon myself to track the soul of the keeper of the bridge. It was the whole reason we created the warlock system, to ensnare the keeper and then ensure that he would never bring about the end of this age.Â" Slade said and pressed the knife in a bit closer, drawing blood with the razor sharp blade made for living blood sacrifices by men, Â"Yes, my slave, you were the whole cause of the entrapment of hundreds of souls and their corruption. ItÂ's all for you. IsnÂ't that an honor? Well?Â" Harry closed his eyes as he saw the violent gleam in the normally cool eyes.

Â"No.Â" whispered Harry and he heard SatanianÂ's rumbling chuckle.

Â"No? IÂ'd be flattered if I were you kiddo. Slade cared so much about the job that you gave him, that heÂ's willing to do anything to prevent the next order of rulers.Â" said the sadistic sorcerer, Â"Like last time you picked a pretty form too, a lovely little girl-child which gave me a longing for younger flesh.Â"

Harry had no clue what was going on, but he feared that the two were telling the truth, but he couldnÂ't really remember past the first time he awoke in his masterÂ's care. He also knew that it had been the singing of the healing chant which triggered the response. That chant identified him as someone they knew from the past, someone who could pick forms, but that made no sense. He would never have chosen this body, he would have chosen some imperfect form with obvious flaws that were repulsive to all. Anything to keep out of the hands of his master and his friends.

As his master stepped back and gave Satanian the order to prevent speech in him by whatever means, Harry started trying to sing for power again.

(End Chapter Six- Keeping the Keeper)

One last note: _The Body Electric_ is from the movie Fame. I donÂ't own it, but it is the theme song for the rest of this. It struck me as very fitting for the rest of this story.


End file.
